Whatever happened to Pay it Forward?

In the 21^st century social media is now more than simply a way to connect with old friends and colleagues, it is now one of the largest contributors to social trends. These trends have ranged from entertaining – Harlem Shake, awareness raising – ALS ice bucket challenge, and just plain stupid – Neknominations.

The Neknominations caused quite a stir both on social media and off. Once nominated you had to find a way to top the previous challenger’s Neknomination. This of course led to nominees performing the challenge in escalating circumstances, drinking stronger beverages and doing more crazy stunts either during or after consuming their beverage. As a result at least 5 deaths were reported in the United Kingdom and Ireland alone.

Neknominations became a craze overnight and it wasn’t stopping anytime soon once it caught hold in highschools all around. I could never understand why students as young as 16 would pose risk to themselves simply for a stunt that wouldn’t be relevant in 5 years. Weren’t we taught at the beginning of highschool to be cautious of what we post online in fear of background checks by future employers?

I remember going to curling practice one evening and hearing that someone on the team had just done their Neknomination. They were in no state to go onto the ice that day, but that didn’t seem to stop them from doing just that. While some students sat on the sidelines and watched the circus unfold, I was terrified that a serious injury was bound to occur as he stepped on the ice. If this had been the case the coach in charge of our supervision could have possibly lost his job because he wasn’t aware that a student had shown up to practice intoxicated. And to think that should be a concern on his part in this day and age to me is appalling.

As the Neknominations died down in the social media world, another challenge stemmed directly from it: Feed the Deed. This was the polar opposite of Neknominations in a way because now participants had to film themselves performing a random act of kindness for a stranger and nominate friends and family to do the same.

I do not question the need for a Pay-it-Forward’esque challenge but rather the need for it to be filmed. Is it really a necessity to show others how kind you are on film? What would be the motivation behind your actions in the first place, the fact that you actually want to commit an act of kindness or just be a part of the trend? The unique thing about social media is that often times people don’t have to ask each other that question because it’s now socially acceptable to do the latter without being judged. And I find that tragic.

The reason being, if #FeedtheDeed had never gone viral then imagine how many acts of kindness would have never occured in the first place? And what is truly important then, the intention behind the action or the action itself? Unfortunately this way of thinking is quickly dropped once the topic of fitting in comes into conversation. It’s as if the 2 go hand in hand for today’s youth: willingly participating in possibly dangerous or exploitive activities just to be a part of it all.

Sometimes the original idea of a social trend just becomes watered down and is used as yet another method to seek attention. A prime example of this would be the ongoing ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It started as a way to educate people about the effects of ALS because the momentary feeling of ice on your skin is what ALS patients go through for years on end. It’s unfortunate that it has now turned into a way for people to simply challenge each other just for the sake of being a part of it.

Although the argument can be made that the “campaign” has raised mass amounts of awareness for the cause, many are unaware why the challenge requires an ice bucket in the first place. I doubt that many of the participants would go the extra mile to donate more than simply money or a 20 seconds video and instead put time to volunteer for the cause.

Social media has proven to be an amazing marketing tool for those willing to compromise their morals for attention. But even with that in mind it has managed to mould the generations to come, whether or not the change has been positive will be revealed in the coming years. All I can say for now is that careful attention has to be paid when actions are justified by the allure of attention instead of what is truly right or wrong.

Cheers, MarkL